diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs
index 58872978842..145449c553a 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/beacon_chain.rs
@@ -3030,11 +3030,11 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
         self.remove_notified(&block_root, r)
     }
 
-    /// Cache the data column in the processing cache, process it, then evict it from the cache if it was
+    /// Cache the data columns in the processing cache, process it, then evict it from the cache if it was
     /// imported or errors.
-    pub async fn process_gossip_data_column(
+    pub async fn process_gossip_data_columns(
         self: &Arc<Self>,
-        data_column: GossipVerifiedDataColumn<T>,
+        data_columns: Vec<GossipVerifiedDataColumn<T>>,
     ) -> Result<
         (
             AvailabilityProcessingStatus,
@@ -3042,7 +3042,16 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
         ),
         BlockError<T::EthSpec>,
     > {
-        let block_root = data_column.block_root();
+        let Ok(block_root) = data_columns
+            .iter()
+            .map(|c| c.block_root())
+            .unique()
+            .exactly_one()
+        else {
+            return Err(BlockError::InternalError(
+                "Columns should be from the same block".to_string(),
+            ));
+        };
 
         // If this block has already been imported to forkchoice it must have been available, so
         // we don't need to process its samples again.
@@ -3055,7 +3064,7 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
         }
 
         let r = self
-            .check_gossip_data_column_availability_and_import(data_column)
+            .check_gossip_data_columns_availability_and_import(data_columns)
             .await;
         self.remove_notified_custody_columns(&block_root, r)
     }
@@ -3402,9 +3411,9 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
 
     /// Checks if the provided data column can make any cached blocks available, and imports immediately
     /// if so, otherwise caches the data column in the data availability checker.
-    async fn check_gossip_data_column_availability_and_import(
+    async fn check_gossip_data_columns_availability_and_import(
         self: &Arc<Self>,
-        data_column: GossipVerifiedDataColumn<T>,
+        data_columns: Vec<GossipVerifiedDataColumn<T>>,
     ) -> Result<
         (
             AvailabilityProcessingStatus,
@@ -3412,13 +3421,21 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> BeaconChain<T> {
         ),
         BlockError<T::EthSpec>,
     > {
-        let slot = data_column.slot();
         if let Some(slasher) = self.slasher.as_ref() {
-            slasher.accept_block_header(data_column.signed_block_header());
+            for data_colum in &data_columns {
+                slasher.accept_block_header(data_colum.signed_block_header());
+            }
         }
+
+        let Ok(slot) = data_columns.iter().map(|c| c.slot()).unique().exactly_one() else {
+            return Err(BlockError::InternalError(
+                "Columns for the same block should have matching slot".to_string(),
+            ));
+        };
+
         let (availability, data_columns_to_publish) = self
             .data_availability_checker
-            .put_gossip_data_column(data_column)?;
+            .put_gossip_data_columns(data_columns)?;
 
         self.process_availability(slot, availability)
             .await
diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/block_verification.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/block_verification.rs
index 9dc3ee7029f..942930e183a 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/block_verification.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/block_verification.rs
@@ -317,6 +317,13 @@ pub enum BlockError<E: EthSpec> {
     ///
     /// This indicates the peer is sending an unexpected gossip blob and should be penalised.
     BlobNotRequired(Slot),
+    /// An internal error has occurred when processing the block or sidecars.
+    ///
+    /// ## Peer scoring
+    ///
+    /// We were unable to process this block due to an internal error. It's unclear if the block is
+    /// valid.
+    InternalError(String),
 }
 
 impl<E: EthSpec> From<AvailabilityCheckError> for BlockError<E> {
diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker.rs
index 7e11a163d5a..12b7502e917 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker.rs
@@ -233,22 +233,26 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> DataAvailabilityChecker<T> {
     ///
     /// This should only accept gossip verified data columns, so we should not have to worry about dupes.
     #[allow(clippy::type_complexity)]
-    pub fn put_gossip_data_column(
+    pub fn put_gossip_data_columns(
         &self,
-        gossip_data_column: GossipVerifiedDataColumn<T>,
+        gossip_data_columns: Vec<GossipVerifiedDataColumn<T>>,
     ) -> Result<(Availability<T::EthSpec>, DataColumnsToPublish<T::EthSpec>), AvailabilityCheckError>
     {
         let Some(kzg) = self.kzg.as_ref() else {
             return Err(AvailabilityCheckError::KzgNotInitialized);
         };
-        let block_root = gossip_data_column.block_root();
+        let block_root = gossip_data_columns
+            .first()
+            .ok_or(AvailabilityCheckError::MissingCustodyColumns)?
+            .block_root();
 
-        // TODO(das): ensure that our custody requirements include this column
-        let custody_column =
-            KzgVerifiedCustodyDataColumn::from_asserted_custody(gossip_data_column.into_inner());
+        let custody_columns = gossip_data_columns
+            .into_iter()
+            .map(|c| KzgVerifiedCustodyDataColumn::from_asserted_custody(c.into_inner()))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
 
         self.availability_cache
-            .put_kzg_verified_data_columns(kzg, block_root, vec![custody_column])
+            .put_kzg_verified_data_columns(kzg, block_root, custody_columns)
     }
 
     /// Check if we have all the blobs for a block. Returns `Availability` which has information
diff --git a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker/overflow_lru_cache.rs b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker/overflow_lru_cache.rs
index d6fd796158d..71f55c61468 100644
--- a/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker/overflow_lru_cache.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/beacon_chain/src/data_availability_checker/overflow_lru_cache.rs
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> OverflowLRUCache<T> {
 
     /// Potentially trigger reconstruction if:
     /// - Our custody requirement is all columns
-    /// - We >= 50% of columns
+    /// - We >= 50% of columns, but not all columns
     fn should_reconstruct(
         &self,
         block_import_requirement: &BlockImportRequirement,
@@ -917,9 +917,13 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> OverflowLRUCache<T> {
             return false;
         };
 
-        !pending_components.reconstruction_started
-            && *num_expected_columns == T::EthSpec::number_of_columns()
-            && pending_components.verified_data_columns.len() >= T::EthSpec::number_of_columns() / 2
+        let num_of_columns = T::EthSpec::number_of_columns();
+        let has_missing_columns = pending_components.verified_data_columns.len() < num_of_columns;
+
+        has_missing_columns
+            && !pending_components.reconstruction_started
+            && *num_expected_columns == num_of_columns
+            && pending_components.verified_data_columns.len() >= num_of_columns / 2
     }
 
     pub fn put_kzg_verified_blobs<I: IntoIterator<Item = KzgVerifiedBlob<T::EthSpec>>>(
diff --git a/beacon_node/http_api/src/publish_blocks.rs b/beacon_node/http_api/src/publish_blocks.rs
index 787e14b6a00..87e79924d3c 100644
--- a/beacon_node/http_api/src/publish_blocks.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/http_api/src/publish_blocks.rs
@@ -273,31 +273,33 @@ pub async fn publish_block<T: BeaconChainTypes, B: IntoGossipVerifiedBlockConten
     }
 
     if let Some(gossip_verified_data_columns) = gossip_verified_data_columns {
-        let custody_columns = network_globals
-            .custody_columns(block.epoch())
-            .map_err(|e| {
-                warp_utils::reject::broadcast_without_import(format!(
-                    "Failed to compute custody column indices: {:?}",
-                    e
-                ))
-            })?;
-
-        for data_column in gossip_verified_data_columns {
-            if custody_columns.contains(&data_column.index()) {
-                if let Err(e) = Box::pin(chain.process_gossip_data_column(data_column)).await {
-                    let msg = format!("Invalid data column: {e}");
-                    return if let BroadcastValidation::Gossip = validation_level {
-                        Err(warp_utils::reject::broadcast_without_import(msg))
-                    } else {
-                        error!(
-                            log,
-                            "Invalid blob provided to HTTP API";
-                            "reason" => &msg
-                        );
-                        Err(warp_utils::reject::custom_bad_request(msg))
-                    };
-                }
-            }
+        let custody_columns_indices =
+            network_globals
+                .custody_columns(block.epoch())
+                .map_err(|e| {
+                    warp_utils::reject::broadcast_without_import(format!(
+                        "Failed to compute custody column indices: {:?}",
+                        e
+                    ))
+                })?;
+
+        let custody_columns = gossip_verified_data_columns
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter(|data_column| custody_columns_indices.contains(&data_column.index()))
+            .collect();
+
+        if let Err(e) = Box::pin(chain.process_gossip_data_columns(custody_columns)).await {
+            let msg = format!("Invalid data column: {e}");
+            return if let BroadcastValidation::Gossip = validation_level {
+                Err(warp_utils::reject::broadcast_without_import(msg))
+            } else {
+                error!(
+                    log,
+                    "Invalid blob provided to HTTP API";
+                    "reason" => &msg
+                );
+                Err(warp_utils::reject::custom_bad_request(msg))
+            };
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/beacon_node/network/src/network_beacon_processor/gossip_methods.rs b/beacon_node/network/src/network_beacon_processor/gossip_methods.rs
index edd145a7168..f3a3f00a125 100644
--- a/beacon_node/network/src/network_beacon_processor/gossip_methods.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/network/src/network_beacon_processor/gossip_methods.rs
@@ -981,7 +981,7 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> NetworkBeaconProcessor<T> {
 
         match self
             .chain
-            .process_gossip_data_column(verified_data_column)
+            .process_gossip_data_columns(vec![verified_data_column])
             .await
         {
             Ok((availability, data_columns_to_publish)) => {
@@ -1266,6 +1266,12 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> NetworkBeaconProcessor<T> {
                 );
                 return None;
             }
+            Err(e @ BlockError::InternalError(_)) => {
+                error!(self.log, "Internal block gossip validation error";
+                    "error" => %e
+                );
+                return None;
+            }
             Err(e @ BlockError::BlobNotRequired(_)) => {
                 // TODO(das): penalty not implemented yet as other clients may still send us blobs
                 // during early stage of implementation.